The owner, who had bought the boat in Ontario, was about to launch it at the Sunbreaker Cove launch at Sylvan Lake when the inspectors found the mussels.

He was fully cooperative and the boat will be decontaminated by the province’s specialized teams.

Sawchuk said it was one of 269 boats inspected on the May long weekend for the invasive mussels.

Sawchuk said they found a total of seven “high-risk” boats, which either came from a mussel-contaminated province or state, looked dirty or slimy or had standing water after being in an area with invasive mussels.

Three of those boats were given hot water washes to ensure they were not contaminated, she said.

Officials reminded Albertans to clean, drain and dry their boats to prevent the mussels from damaging Alberta’s aquatic ecosystems.

The invasive species — zebra and quagga mussels — are spreading throughout the western United States and Eastern Canada, making it as far west as Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.

There’s no record of the non-native mussels in Alberta waterways, but several infested boats have been intercepted in the past couple of years.

It’s estimated it would cost about $75 million in annual losses if they were to establish themselves in Alberta’s lakes and rivers due to a drop in tourism dollars, as well as the potential to clog pipes and irrigation canals throughout the province.